Improvement in surgical operations



q-UNiTED STATES PATENT; OFFIcE.

C. T. JACKSON AND 7M. T. G. MORTON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS; SAID C. T. JACKSON ASSlGNOR TO \VM. T. C. MORTON.

IMPROVEMENT lN SURGICAL OPERATIONS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4,819, dated November 1;, litl.

'To all u-hnm it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHARLES T. Jacksori and \VILLLUI T. G. )Ionrox, of Boston, in the county of Sufi'olk and State of .\lassachnset'ts,

cular action of-persons who undergo the same;

and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of our said iuven tion or discovery.

It is well known to chemists that when alcohol is submitted to distillation with certain acid-s peculiar compounds-termed ethers, are formed, each of which is usually distinguished by the name of the acid employed in its preparation. It has also been known that the vapors of some, it notall, of these chemical.

distillations, particularly those of sulphuric ether, when breathed or introduced into the lungs of an animal have produced a peculiar effect. on its nervous system, one which has been supposed to be analo ous to what is usually termed intoxication; It has never to our knowledge been known until our discoveiy that the inhalation of such vapors {particularly those of sulphuric ether) would produce insensibility to pain, or such a. state of quiet of nervous action as to render a person or animal incapable to a great extent, it not entirely, of eiperieucing pain while under the action of the knife or other instrument of operation ofa surgeon'calculated to produce pain. This is our disco'very, and the combining it with or applying it to any operation of surgery for the purpose of alleviating animal suiiering, as well as of enabling a. surgeon to conduct his operation withlittle or no struggling or muscular action of the patient and with more certainty of success, constitutes our invention. The nervous quiet and insensibiiity to pain produced on a person is generally of short duration. The degree or exteutot' it or time which it lasts dependson the amount of ethereal vapor received into thesystem and the constitutional character ot the person to whom it is administered. Practice will soon acquaint an cxperiencedsnrneck or bottle.

goon with the amount of ethereal vapor to be admin stered to persons for the accomplishment of the surgical operation or operations required in their respective cases. For the extraction ota tooth the individual may be thrown into the insensible state. generally speaking, only a few minutes. For the removal of a tumor or the performance of the amputation of a limb it is necessary to regulatethe ainount of vapor inhaled to the time required to complete the operation.

Various modes may be adopted for conveying the ethereal vapor into the lungs. A very simple one is to saturate a piece of cloth or sponge with sulphuric ether, and place it to the nostrils or mouth, so that the person may inhale the vapors. A more eti'cctive one is to take a. glass or other proper vessel, like a common bottle or flask, and place in it a sponge saturated with sulphuric ether. Let there be a holemade through the side of the vessel for the admission of atmospheric -air, which hole may or may not be provided with a valve opening downward,or so as to allow air topassinto the vessel, a valve on the outside of the neck opening upward, and another valve in the neck and between that last mentioned and thebody ot' the'vessel or liaslg'whirh latter valve in the neck should open toward the month ot'thc The extremity of the neck is to be placed in the month of the patient, and his nostrils stopped or closed in such manner as to cause him to inhale air through the bottlc. and to exhale it through the neck and out of the valve on the outside of the neck. The air thus breathed, by passing in contact with the sponge. will be charged with the ethereal vapors, which will be conveyed by it into the lungs of the patient. This will soon produce the state of iusensibility or nervous quiet required. v I

In order to render the ether agreeable to various persons, we often combine it with one or more essential oils having pleasant perfumes. This may be etfected by mixing the ether and essential oil and washing the mixture in water. The impurities will subside, and the ether, impregnated with the pIrt'ume, will rise to the top of the water. We sometimes combine a narcotic preparation-such as opium or morphine-with the ether. This may be done by any way known to'chemists by which a combination of ethereal and narcotic vapors may be produced.

After a person has been put into the state of iusensibility, as above described. a surgical opt ration may be performed upon him without, so far as repeated experiments have proved, giving to him any apparent or real pain, or so little in comparison to that produced by the usual process of conducting surgical operations as to be scarcely noticeable. There is very nearly, it not entire, absence ot all pain. lmmediatelyor soon after the operation is completed a restoration of the patent to his usual feelings takes place without. generally spealt mg, his having been sensible ot' the perform" ance of the operation.

From the experiments we have made we are led to prefer the vapors of sulphuric ether to those of mnriatic or other kind of ether; but any such may be employed which will properly produce the state or iusensibility without any injurious consequences to the patient.

We are fully aware that narcotics have been administered to patients undergoing surgical OPP'HLUUHS, and, as we believe, always by in trooncing themv into the stomach. This we consid r in no respect to embody our invention, as we operate through the lungs and airpassages, and the etl'ects produced upon the patient are 'entirely or so far different as to H'Htlo'l the one of very little while the other is of immense utility. The consequences of the chan e are very considerable, as an immense amount of human or animal sntl'ering can be prevented by the application of our discovery.

What we claim as our invention is- The bcreinbefore-de cribed means by which we are enabled to etl'ect the above highly-important improvement in surgical operat onsvi/m by combining therewith the application or Liili'l'fll the vapor thereef-substantially as above speci tied.

in tt'alilllOlly whereof we have hereto set our signatures this 27th day of October, A. I). 1 to.

CHARLES T. JACKSON. WM. T. G. MORTON. Witnesses: I. ll. Iioor,

W. H. Lemme). 

